34 Days

Ch. 6 Claire

P.O.V. : Claire Hampton

Time: 3:34 A.M.

Days since the Parker's have gone missing: 5

I can't believe it has only been 5 days since my Brother and his Wife have been missing. Time moves quite slowly now. Second feel like minutes, minutes feel like hours, and well I'm sure you get the point. What I guess I'm trying to point out is that time moves slowly when you're waiting.

Also, that annoying detective still hasn't contacted me yet about the case. Gosh I hate her. She makes my blood boil. Her attitude is not gonna fly with me that's for sure. Plus she thinks just because she's some lousy detective that she's immediately smarter and is better than me. Hate to brake it to her, but she's not all that. I can't even believe Emily likes her. I thought Em could spot a phony person from a mile away. I guess not though.
To be honest, I really shouldn't be up. I have work in the morning and Emily starts school again in the morning as well. I can't help but think about Malcolm. We grew up hating each other. I was 3 years older than him, so he would always try to act cool around my friends growing up. I guess he wanted to date them. Once we were in high school, we started to not hate each other as much, but we grew even further apart. His sophomore year, he met Regina Wilson. I thought it was never going to last since she was way out of his league. I mean she was beautiful. Long hair that was jet black, very pale, and she had the most vibrant green eyes. Despite all the boys waiting their turn to date her, she still stayed with my brother.

Things eventually got better once they got married. I was so excited because 4 months after their marriage, Regina found out she was pregnant. 9 months after that, she gave birth to Emily. Everything was finally looking up for me. My relationship with my brother was close to perfect now, I got along with his wife, and I had a husband of my own too. The only downside was that it was physically impossible for me to have any kids. Ron and I were perfectly okay with that though because we had Emily.

I was so happy my life was finally the way I wanted it to be. Everything changed though on October 23, two years ago. My husband died in a fire. I miss him and my Brother. All these emotions that had been kept inside for the past 2 years finally came out. I sobbed in my pillow hoping Emily wouldn't hear me. I hate crying, but it needs to be done. A few minutes pass and I lie on my back staring at my brothers guest room ceiling. I'm numb. I don't feel anything anymore. Maybe that's why I'd rather bottle up my emotions. I conclude that I'd rather feel something than nothing at all.

Sometimes it's hard to tell if I'm asleep or not. I guess I am because I see my brother standing in front of me. I note that I'm in a completely white area, similar to what I picture Limbo to be like. I reach out to Malcolm but he rejects my hand. I can see Regina even farther away curled up into a ball. Ron is by her side checking her pulse. I'm so confused. I ask Malcolm what's going on but he's just giving me a blank stare.

" Malcolm where are we?"

No answer. I'm finally close enough to him where I can shake him, so I do. He still doesn't respond. Suddenly, Regina sits up and she points behind me. I can barely tell what he looks like, but it appears to be a dark shadow like man standing beside a podium.

" Go," Regina says, still pointing.

I cautiously make my way over to the podium. The shadow man isn't moving. I'm not afraid of him, he just makes me feel uncomfortable. I continue walking. It feels like it's taking me hours to get there even though it appears to be less than 4 feet away. As I reach the podium, I turn around to look at the three of them one last time. Regina is the only one pointing, but all three of them are giving me blank stares. I notice as I turn around, there's a button on the podium. It says the word "HAPPINESS" on it. The shadow man is staring at me.

" Press it..."

There's no going back now. I slam my hand on the button. I can already tell this was a huge mistake. I whip around and watch Malcolm,Regina, and Ron quickly go limp and fall to the ground. They can't be dead! No this can't be happening! I have to get to them. But the limbo that I'm in begins to shatter. I notice the cracks that are forming around me, showing nothing but darkness. My feet feel like they're glued to the ground. It's hard to breathe and move, I have to keep going. Almost there. They need me and yet I need them too. There's no way I'm letting this shadow demon or whatever the hell he is win. I hear the the shadow man laugh menacingly. I'm still not done yet. Malcolm doesn't need to say anything because his eyes speak for themselves. He gives me a pleading look and reaches for me to grab ahold of him. I'm running out of options.I throw myself at Malcolm. But the floor disappears and I'm now falling into a dark abyss.

I land face first onto the ground. The earth beneath me feels like quicksand. I can hear some footsteps approach me and I don't even need to question who it could be. My eyes dart quickly back and forth scanning the terrain. Where's Malcolm? I can't just sit here, so I pull with all the strength that I could possibly possess,but I still can't move. By now I'm waist deep in this mud-like quicksand. I can see him approach in my peripheral. This time I can actually make sense of what he looks like. He wears a charcoal color hood/cape and he has piercing blue eyes. I can hear the click of his boots the closer he gets. He's now directly over me. He squats down, that way he's on my level and offers me his hand. I refuse to grab it. I spit on his left boot.

"You known you may want your loved ones right now, but you need me too, he says coldly.

He offers me his hand again. I hesitate for a long while, but this time I decide to take it. After that I wake up.

End of Ch. 6